A wide variety of machine tools are available for performing turning, drilling and milling operations in which a tool is fed into a workpiece by relatively moving the tool and the workpiece. In some cases, the tool is moved relative to the workpiece, while in other cases, the workpiece is moved relative to the tool.
In some applications, the machine tool may have limited ability to perform machining in tight spaces, such as small radii in highly contoured or complex parts. In order to solve this problem, a retrofit accessory known as an angled machine head may be mounted on the machine tool in order to provide the capability needed to machine within tight spaces. These angled machine heads, the most common of which is a right angle head, are often mounted directly on the drive spindle that is normally used to drive the tool. The drive spindle must be locked against rotation when the angled machine head is used, and thus provides only as a means of mounting, rather than driving, the angled machine head.
Some machine tools may not possess the capability of locking the drive spindle against rotation, consequently a problem exists in mounting an angled machine head on this type of machine tool since the angled machine head would be free to rotate along with the rotating drive spindle.
Accordingly, there is a need for a fixture and related method of mounting an angled machine head on a machine tool of the type that may not lock up the tool spindle. There is also a need for a fixture and method of the type mentioned that allows the angled machine head to be rotationally indexed and then fixed in a desired position, in order to orient the tool.